Cotton extracting and cleaning machine.



J. E. MITCHELL.

COTTON EXTBAGTING AND CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1911.

Patented July 2, 1912.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

JOHN E. MITCHELL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

COTTON ExTRAc'riNG AND CLEANING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 18, 1911.

Patented July 2, 1912.

Serial No. 661,099.

the present machine may be used either in conjuhctionwith a gin to cleansaid cotton Mid better prepare it for the ginning opera tion, or it maybe used for extracting cotton from bolls, and especially from closedbolls.

' 'In its use in either connect-ion, I have found 'free passage of thehulls past.-

thatthe successful operation of the machine depends to a very largeextent on the regulation of the'feed of the .hulls and cotton past thesaw cylinder.. In my pending application, above named. I have shown asingle hull board, in the form of a grate bar. adapted to be adjustedtoward and from the saw cylinder to regulate the size of the spacethrough which the hulls pass to the discharge. It is exceedinglydifficult, however, to accomplish the best results with a single hullboard for the reason that if the space between the hull board and thesaw cylinder is made sufficiently large to permit a the saw cylinder,which is necessary to prevent choking of the machine, it inevitablyfollows that a great dea of cotton will be carried through with thebulls without coming in contact with the 52 w cylinder, and hence bewasted. On th other hand, if the space be lessened to prevent tire wasteof cotton, the restriction of the outlet will result in choking-up themachine and thereby prevent its proper working.

The principal aim of the present'invem tion is to overcome the inherentobjection of a single hull board, and to this end the inventioncomprises a pair, of parallel hull boards adjustably mounted in themachine and located one above the other, and nor mally positioned sothat the edge of the upperhull board will be at a greater distance fromthe saw cylinder than is the edge of the lower hull board, while betweenthe boards there is a free clearance space to per- M1'rcHELL,'al mit theescape of pieces of hull, refuse, or

the like, which may be knocked outward by contact with the teeth of thesaw cylinder.

In addition to the improvement in the hull board, as above outlined, thepresent invention also embodies an improvement in the feeding devices,which I have demonstrated in practice presents the mixed cotton andbulls in the best condition for subsequent action by the saw cylinder,and likewise feeds the material uniformly, while at the same timecrushing any pods fed into the machine.

By the special construction of parts hereinafter described and claimed,as well as by the general combination,

arrangement and cooperation of the elements entering into the machine asa whole, I have devised a machine which will operate in a continuous andhighly efficient manner to separate impurities from said cotton, or withequal effi- .ciency to crush bolls, open or closed, and

separate the cotton thereof from the hulls.

In the accompanying drawing, the view is a cross section of a machineconstructed according to my invention, a small portion thereof beingshown in elevation to illustrate the means for adjusting the hullboards.

Referring now to the drawing, 1 indicates the casing of the machine,which is provided with a hopper 2, in the lower part of which ismounted, on a shaft 3, a revolving crusher and feeder t. which, asshown, is a cylinder having mounted on its periphery a series of )ins 5.Supported at its upper end on the wall of the hopper. and at its lowerend on an angle-iron (3. which extends between the sides of the machine.I providie'fa wire screen 7 which is curved at its lower end'to conformsomewhat to the curvature of the cylinder 4, the purpose of this screenbeing to effect an initial separation of some of the dirt, refuse, andthe like, from the cotton, which material may be small enough to passthrough the meshes of the screen 7. Such refuse material passes throughthe screen and falls to the bottom of the machine on to an incline 8,whence it passes out through an opening 9 in the rear side of themachine. Above the crushing cylinder 4 are mounted two similar rollers10, the shafts 11 of which are supported in bearings in opposite sidesof the hopper 2, said rollers being designed to be driven in oppositedirections, or

toward each other. and being provided with ings for the reception of arod 24 on which longitudinal blades. ultllt like. tor engaging the hullboards. as a whole. are secured.

aln feeding the cotton. ered it necessary to show the belts and geariu;for rotating the various members referred to. and others later to bereferred to. particularly as I lay no claim to the special arrangementof the feeding and crushing cylinders, except in so far as they enterinto the general combination of the machine. I will state, however. thatin practice the crushing cylinder 4- is rotated at a relatively highrate of peed as compared with ,the Feeding rolls 10. and that by sospeeding up the crushing cylinder I not only secure the proper feed ofthe cotton. but likewise effect the cru hing of bolls fed into themachine by impact therewith of the blades 5. which. likewise act tothrow the broken hulls and refuse material with considerable forceagainst the screen 7 and effect an initial separation of refuse. whichis of very mate rial advantage. 3 indicates a saw cylinder mounted on ashaft 11. and 15 a rotary podcxpeller. mounted on a shaft 16, the latterrotating in the same direction as the saw cylinder and openating toknock back any pieces of hull. or the like. carried up by the saws. 17indicates a dotier-brush. mounted n a shaft 18. and operating to removecotton from the saw cylinder. These parts-are embodied in my pendingapplication. their function is fully described therein. and they neednot be referred to herein more in detail.

Located above the pod-expeller 15 is a hinged board 10 extendingparallel therewith throughout. the length of the pod-expeller. andnormally resting on a stop 20.

This board acts in the nature of a guard to prevent refuse materialbeing carried around by the portexpeller and delivered to the forwardside of the saw cylinder, where it would be thrown into the cotton bythe dott'er-brnsh. This guard may be readily swung upward to permitaccess to the interior of the machine. and will also readily yield topermitthe passage of any object carried up by the pod-expeller too largeto pass between the latter and the said guard. It will be understood, ofcourse, thatthe shafts 14. 16 and 18 are suitably journaled in the wallsof the machine. and that proper driving means are employed for rotatingthem in the respective directions it is desired they should turn.

Situated below the crushing cylinder 4, and to one side of the sawcylinder. are the hull boards, of which 21 indicates the upper board and22 the lower. These two hull boards are preferably connected in rigidparallel relation by means'of a bracket-arm 23 having opposite endsbolted to the respective hull boards at each end of the latter, only Oneof said bracketarms being shown, and said brackets being provided withopenl have not consid- The rod 24 is journaled atopposite ends in thesides of the casing. and is located nearer to the hull board 21 than tothe hull board 22, as shown, so that the latter, having a larger arc ofmovement, may be adjusted toward or from the saw cylinder withoutmaterially affecting the distance therefrom of. the edge of the upperboard 21. Secured on one end of the rod 24 is an arm 25. having a curvedslot 26, through which slot extends a screw-threaded pin 27 mounted onthe outer wall of the casing. and on which is screwed a jam-nut 28. Byloosening this nut the hull boards may be turned on the rod 24 as apivot, and to adjust the distance. particularly of the lower hull board,from the cylinder, after which the jam-nut is screwed home to lock thehull boards in the adjusted position.

It will be seen that in the adjustment shown in the drawing the space 29between the lower edge of the hull board 21 and the saw cylinder 13 isconsiderably greater than the space'30 between the lower edge of thehull board 22 and the saw cylinder. In

my pending application referred to, l'have set .forth the advantage ofhaving a free, unoccupied space adjacent to the saw cylinder to permitthe agitation of the cotton be observed that between the hull boards 21and 22, and adjacent to the saw cylinder, there is a space 31, and thisspace. in a less degree, has somewhat the function of the largeragitatingchamber above the hull board 21. This space 31, however, is notconfined by a rear wall, but a continuous opening is provided betweenthe boards from the front to the rear thereof so that pieces of hull,and the like. thrown up by the saws may pass out between the hull boardsand fall from the machine through the opening 9. This latter feature,providing a means of escape for the hulls and refuse, in addition tothat provided by the space between the inner edges of the hull boardsand the saw cylinder, is of the greatest importance, insuring as it doesthe certain and rapid separation of a large part of the refuse from thecotton which could not otherwise be so separated except at the ex-Thismay be clearly understood from a comparison of the single and doublehull board arrangements, and a consideration of the differences in theiroperation. In the case of a single hull board, if it is adjusted so asto provide a space between its lower edge and the saw cylindersutticiently narrow to prevent the escape of cotton, it would att-he ofa large portion of the refuse that could and to prevent choking themachine. It will same time absolutely prevent the discharge not passthrough the opening. If, on the pense of a considerable waste of cotton.

other hand. and as is necessary in operation, the space were made largeenough to permit the escape of all the refuse, a considerable portion ofcotton would be carried along with it and lost. This ditliculty isovercome in the use of the double hull board arrangement, in which casethe upper board is adjusted to provide a space between its lower edgeand the saw cylinder sutliciently wide to permit the discharge of allthe ref use, which carries with it some of the cotton. The lower hullboard, however. is so adjusted relative to the saw cylinder that thespace between its lower edge and the saw cylinder is too narrow topermit the escape of the remaining cotton, and while the smallerparticles of refuse, trash, etc., are readily discharged by gravitythrough this space, the larger particles. such as hulls, bells, stones,sticks, etc., must be thrown or knocked by the saws through the spacebetween the hull boards, and over the top of the lower hull board, orelse they could not be eliminated at all, and the machine would beinoperative. The width and position of the lower hull board must,therefore, be such as to permit this operation, and the space betweenthe ,two hull boards must be relatively wide and of no great depth. sothat the hulls and refuse may be readily thrown out. withouthaving totravel or rise any considerable distance, as otherwise they would fallupon the lower hull board and slide back against the saw cylinder. Tothis end I preferablv make the lower hull dcr 4. As the blades 5 of thiscylinder come in contact with the bolls it cracks and crushes them.throwing them with some force against the screen 7. and a part of thedirtand small pieces of hull will pass through said screen and fall outof the machine by way of the opening 9. The cotton mixed with the hullscomes in contactwith the saw cylinder 13, the saws whereof engage andcarry the cotton under the pod-expeller 15. the latter being located atsuch distance from the surface of the saw cylinder that it will knockback any pieces of hull which may be carried upward with the cotton.These pieces of bull gradually find their way by gravity to the opening29. and to a certain extent any pieces of hull having cotton attachedthereto will be carried upward again byreason of the saws engaging thecotton. As I have explained above; however, this opening 29 must be made'sutliciently large to permit the free passage of the bulls past the sawcylinder. and it is found that quite an amount of cotton is carried pastthe saws, and if no other means were provided to reclaim it, it wouldpass out of the machine and be wasted According to the presentinvention. however. the bulls will next fall by gravity to the space 30,which, being narrower than the space '29. will throw the bulls closer tothe saws as they fall through. It thus occurs if board of less widtlithan the .upper hull board, with its upper edge lying in a lower planethan the lower edge of the upper hull board, and with said edge lyingalso in a vertical plane. cutting the upper hull board. and in ahorizontal plane cutting the saw cylinder. This construction aficrds anun interrupted horizontal passage from the saw cylinder between theupper edge of the lower hull board and the lower edge of the upper hullboard. The rear edge of the lower hull i heard, in addition, is locatedat a considcri able distance from the rear wall of the machine, bringingsuch edge relatively close to the saw cylinder, that the distance thehulls and refuse must travel when thrown upward by the saw cylinderbefore passing out of the rear opening of the space between the hullboards is very slight. understood, of course, that I do not wish to belimited, otherwise than as specified in the claims, to the precise size,arrangement or location of the lower hull board above de scribed. I

In operation the pods are fed into the hopper 2 and pass between thefeed rolls 10,

which slightly compresses the mass. and, as it were, holds thesame whilethe bottom part of the mass of cotton and bolls is knocked off by therapidly revolving cylinthe opening or space 30 and slide down theinclined bottom 8 to the outside of the machine. The hull boards 21 and22 are inclined toward the saw cylinders, and thus the tendency is forthe material resting on these hull boards to fall by gravity against thesaw cylinder. Thus all material delivered into the machine is repeatedlydelivered on to the saws until. being entirely freed from cotton, itwill pass from the ma- It will be chine through one or the other of theways described.

In the eventa'he machine is used for pre par rug; seed cotto'n for thegin, the same operaticns occur as above described, except that thecylinder 4 then acts more as a feed regulating cylinder to loosen anddraw out the cottori and present it to the saw cylinders in the bestcondition to be acted on so that any pieces of bull, sticks. or thelike, mixed therewith may be readily separated therefrom.

In conclusion it may be stated that the distance between the upper hullboard and &

the saw cylinder will usually approximate an int-hand a half, and whenthe upper hull board is at this distance from the saw cylinder the edgeof the'lower hull board will be about one inch from the saw cylinder.Both of these distances, however, may be advantageously varied withincertain .rather narrow limits. according t the character of the materialbeing treated or the purpose for which the machine being used. i

I claim! 1. Inca machine for extracting and cleaning cotton, incombination with a rotary saw cylinder, a rotary pod-expeller and adotfer-brush cooperating therewith, feeding mechanism, and a pair ofsuperposed hull boards defining the size of two alining passages pastthe saw cylinder, and affording between them a free clea ance space soposi tioned that pieces of refuse may be knocked by the saws throughsaid space and over the rear edge of the lower hull board.

2. In a machine for extracting and cleaning cotton, in combination witha rotary saw cylinder, a pod-expeller and dofier-brush cooperatingtherewith, and a pair of superposed hull boards affording between them afree clearancespace and so positioned that the space between the edge ofthe upper hull board-and the saw cylinder is greater than the spacebetween the lower hull board and the saw cylinder, and that the upperedge of the lower hull board is in a plane no higher than the plane ofthe lower edge of the upper hull board.

- 3. In a machine for extracting and clean ing cotton, in combinationwith a rotary saw cylinder, a pod-expeller and dbffcr-brnsh cooperatingtherewith, and. a pair of hull boards located one above the other, therear edge of the lower hull board lying in a vertical plane cutting theupper hull board, and said boards affording between them a treeclearance space through which pieces of ret use may be knocked by thesaws.

4. In a machine of the class described, in

combination with a saw cylinder, a pair of,

said space and beyond the rear edge of the lower hull board.

5. In a machine of the lass described. in combination with a sawcylinder. a pair of hull boards l cated one above the other andcontrolling the size of openings past said saw cylinder, said ballboards atlording a free clearance spa e between them and the lower hullboard being of less width than the upper hull board. and its rear edgebeing lower than the front edge of the upper hull board.

In a machine of the class described, in combination with a saw cylinder,a pair of hull boards located one above the other and controlling thesize of openings past said saw cylinder, said hull boards attording afree clearance space between them, the lower hull board being of lesswidth than the upper hull board and having its rear edge located at adistance from the rear wall of the casing and in a plane cutting the sawcylinder, and lower than the plane of the lower edge of theuppc r hullboard.

T. In a machine for extracting and clcaning cotton, in combination witha rotary saw cylinder, at pod-expeller and dotfer-brush cooperatingtherewith, a pair of connected hull boards located one above the otherand affording a free clearance space between them, said hull boardsbeing pivotally mounted in the casing. and means for si' multaneouslyadjusting said hull boards on their pivot to vary the distance betweentheir respective edges and the surface ol said saw cylinder.

8. In a machine of the class described. in combination with asaw-cylimlcr, a plurality of superposed. separated hull-boardspositioned to permit the passage between them of pieces ti ret'useknocked outward by the saws. and controlling at their front Cdg'ts thesize of openings past the a\\'-c vlinder, the bottom hull-board havingits rear edge located at such a distance from the saw-cyb inder as topermit the pieces of refuse thrown outward by the saws to fallthereover.

9. In a machine of the class described. in combination with a sawcylinder. a plurality of superposed. separated hull-boards controllingat their front. edges the size of openings past the saw cylinder. thebottom hullb oard being of less width than the top hullboard and havingits rear edge lying in a lower plane than the front edge of the tophull-board.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesscs.

JOHN E. MITCHELL.

Witnesses:

HELEN GABELES, BRUCE S. ELLIOTT.

